A herepath or herewag is a military road (literally, an army path) in England, typically dating from the ninth century AD. This was a time of war between the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

kingdoms of southern England and Viking invaders from Denmark. The English military preparations, conducted under the leadership of King Alfred of Wessex, included fortified burhs or places of refuge and connecting herepaths using existing routes or new works. As superior or safer roads, sometimes following ridgeway routes, herepaths were intensely used by ordinary travellers and hauliers. Where these roads exist today, local legend often imputes them with magical, romantic or mystical origins in prehistoric time and the name is rather wantonly applied to any old trackway, especially in the region of Wessex. In the Old English language the word ''here'' means "armed host".Oxford English Dictionary, 1989 It is also found as a prefix in compound words such as harbour (a burh with a garrison) and heretoga (a militia leader). The term herepath has cognates in other Germanic languages in forms such as ''Heerweg'' (German) and '' Hærvejen'' (Danish). In all three languages, a herepath in later times simply denotes a road that was a ''via publica'', maintained at central government expense.Landau, Georg: Beiträge zur Geschichte der alten Heer- und Handelsstraßen in Deutschland, Kassel, Bärenreiter, 1958

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{{England-hist-stub Conflict in Anglo-Saxon England Ancient trackways in England